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Friday, January 21, 2011

{“50 in 50” Fridays}

**Please, if you will, be sure and check out my bloggy etiquette question at the bottom of this post**

Ah, alliteration.

I have realized in reading other blog’s that there are a plethora of “weekly prompts” to get one writing & sharing. While the titles are a bit on the cheesy side (unless you have a thing for alliteration that is, which apparently I do), I find I like the idea of having a prompt to get me writing more. More importantly, they are prompts that will get me writing (at least theoretically), about things other than the medical crud happening here. I KNOW there are other sides to our lives, but do find it hard sometimes to get into that gear, and am hopeful these prompts will be just the ticket. It won’t be every week, but it will give me something to aim for. Others have already named Tuesday (Top Ten Tuesdays), Wednesday (Wordless Wednesday), and Thursday (Things I love Thursdays), so no need to recreate those wheels, but I have not seen one for Monday or Friday.

At the same time I was contemplating how best to keep you all updated on how our “50 in 50” list is going, and wa-la, “50 in 50” Fridays was born. And it’s Friday, so what do you think about that!!! I know, I know….more information than anyone needed, and perhaps a less than stellar glimpse into how my brain works. LOVE ME!!

First, I want to share that I am updating the “50 in 50” list as things happen, so if your curious in between these Friday updates, click on it and take a look at how things are going. If nothing else, this forces me to look at the list weekly and see what we need to be doing next, and more importantly, the PROGRESS we are making!! It is, I have to say, a pretty invigorating action already.

Second, I talked to my dearest husband about his slots on the list, and while I half expected an eye roll and a no thank you, I was THRILLED to instead see a bit of a sparkle in his eye and get a hmmmm. So hopefully he’ll get me a list soon, otherwise I am afraid the kids and I might just eat up those other spots!! That or I may need to make some adjustments to the list and combine some things that are similar in purpose, which is definitely doable. In fact, Chance and I are both adding new items today……he wants to add trying new ethnic foods, and I am going to add providing myself “mental health” breaks, which at the moment, is working on this blog. It’s a less than veiled attempt to make it so I don’t have to feel guilty for spending a little bit of time each day working on it. And I really do want (read: need) that little bit of time each day.

Finally, the progress report:

Item #3 Help Chance in any way possible to fulfill his dream of having a band & playing a gig.
Making some progress here, and reminding Chance that even baby steps are significant!! He’s been able to go to a friends and jam twice now, and had a ball!! Now if we can just find someplace for all of them to get together and practice, we’ll be making some real headway. Any ideas, we are all ears!!

Item #9 Find out if it’s possible for Chance to work an additional week at Camp Korey as a LIT (assistant counselor) this summer in Seattle.

This item prompted me to make a call I really needed to make anyway. While I was pretty sure it was a given that he’d be able to go back to camp this year as an LIT, I realized that I was not really so sure about that!! So a call went out to the director of Camp Korey, and the conversation that ensued was both educational and delightful. I learned that while he’ll go through the application process like he did last year, his previous performance was incredible and there seemed to be no hesitation in her voice about him being accepted again. I also learned that as long as he is an LIT, he’s restricted to only working Mito week, which is fine and something I was already pretty sure was going to be the case, and actually makes a lot of sense. Additionally, we were able to discuss Chance’s long term plan of being on staff for the summer there at Camp Korey sometime in the future…..really, this qualifies as a BIG dream for him AND those of us that love him. She was able to walk me through the accomplishments that they look at in determining those positions and while I am sure she and I will talk about it again in even more detail in the future, she was able to give me a good starting point. More importantly though, it will give Chance a game plan AND it’s all things he wants to do anyway (in a volunteer capacity). Finally, I was able to share with Hillary just how much Camp Korey and Mito Week has meant to my children, and really to ALL of us that love the kids. It’s a post all unto itself and will be posted at some point in the very near future….just be prepared to tear up a little (or a lot).

Item #18 Find ways to help Madison make something of her photography. Lessons maybe? Or just a mentor?

Thanks to a dear, dear friend, we have been connected with our “#18”!!!! An amazing photographer here locally has offered to take Madison under her wing and share photography with her. We could NOT be any more excited!! I promise to share the photographer’s blog with everyone here as soon as I have her permission. Such an answer to prayer!!!

There are a few other items that we have made some small progress on also, but these were the ones I wanted to share today!! Day by day, one step in front of the other, one moment at a time…..it’s working!!!

**Now onto my bloggy etiquette question……

I am sometimes profoundly moved by something another blogger has posted and would love to be able to share some of the sentiments here, but am not sure what proper protocol is in that case? Is it okay to just do as long as credit & a link to the blog is given? Or do you contact the author and ask permission before proceeding? Just leave me a comment regarding this, and thanks in advance for the help!!

About Us

I am Heather, married to my high school sweetheart, Michael, for 28 years and we are the proud parents to three amazing young people. Chance is 23, Madison is 20, and Abigail is 18. All three are awesome young people that any mom would be proud of. They are kind, giving, loving, resilient, confident and selfless. They all also deal daily with the effects of Mitochondrial Disease (Mito for short). While they have Mito, they are not defined by it. We welcome you to this exceptional life we lead!!!